US economy

Feb.21 (Dow Jones) -- Venezuela’s
oil inventories have climbed to their highest levels in five years, according
to satellite data, a sign that U.S. sanctions are stifling sales and could
continue to drive up global prices.

Feb.21 (Dow Jones) -- A
widely-watched measure of how much businesses are investing fell for the fourth
time in five months at the end of 2018, signaling firms are feeling less
confident in light of domestic and global economic uncertainty.

Global Economy

Feb.21 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has suspended future Petroleos Mexicanos
farm-out bids, putting one of the final nails in the coffin for the 2014 energy
reforms that promised to reverse years of oil-production declines with private
companies’ involvement.

Feb.21 (Dow Jones) -- Pope
Francis denounced a "plague of sexual abuses perpetrated by men of the
church to the harm of minors," and called on Catholic bishops to
"listen to the cry of the little ones who plead for justice," as he
opened a four-day summit on preventing clerical sex abuse.

Feb.21 (Dow
Jones) -- A week is a long time in global trade, apparently. Weak data from
Japan and Korea this week suggest stronger-than-expected January trade numbers
from China released last week were a blip. For investors focused on the outcome
of U.S.-China trade talks, the message is clear: Pay more attention to the
global slump that’s already under way.

Corporations

Feb.21 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney
Co., on the brink of sealing its $71 billion takeover of 21st Century Fox Inc.
entertainment assets, will agree to sell the Fox Sports channels in Brazil and
Mexico to win regulatory approval there, according to people close to the
discussions.

Markets

Feb.21 (Bloomberg)
-- More than half the registered voters in Republican-controlled South Carolina
supported Donald Trump in a poll last month, but there’s at least one area
where state leaders are ditching the president to join rival Democrats: a fight
against oil exploration off the Atlantic coast.